Once bitten, twice shy
by HavingSaidThat
Summary: Alice's visions change everything for everyone.


**Edward takes in to consideration Alice's visions and everyone's lives are altered forever.**

**A/N I'm just a novice writer, completely and hopelessly addicted to Twilight. So please be patient as my unskilled fingers fill the pages with what I hope will be interesting reading.**

**Your reviews, comments and suggestions are always welcome.**

**Now on with the show...**

**I suppose here is where I tell you that I don't own any of the characters from the Twilight series. I do however, love to take them out of my mind and play with them a bit.**

**-CHAPTER 1-**

**Endings...Again**

Bella couldn't believe how hard and unemotional his eyes were as he was speaking. It was as if she were looking at a stranger. Not someone she was planning to marry in less than a week's time and certainly, this couldn't be Edward. _Her_ Edward. loving, caring, selfless, only thinking of her always. But it _was _him and the words he was speaking cut her very soul to pieces. Each syllable that passed his lips was more painful than the burning venom that coursed through her veins when James had bit her. The memory prompting her to absentmindedly rub her wrist, where the icy cold, raised scar remained.

She thought she may have seen Edward soften beneath those hardened eyes she was looking into, but then it was gone, and the cold, blank stare replaced what she thought she saw.

"Alice has seen your future after we're married…No, let me rephrase that, she has seen your lack of a future. There is no argument here. I'm sorry….wedding off." Edward had forced the words out in one breath without stopping, afraid he may not say them. He had promised her that never again would he leave her, never again would he hurt her after he had left her last year. The images of Bella's pain from that time were etched into his memory with the help of Jacob who had purposely remembered every single detail of Bella's torment while he was gone. He had never intended to break his promise to her but he would if it meant saving her life. A life more important than his immortal existence, a life more important than his adopted family. A life he was willing to do anything for, even if it meant hurting her…again.

"Nnnoooo, NNNNOOO, you ppp…promised, you would NEVER do this to me again! You swore Edward" Bella cried desperately as she paced in front of him. "Okay..Okay…Weddings off, that's fine, you know I don't like the thought anyway, that works better for me. Charlie will be happier too and and.." Bella was desperate. She knew Edward's resolve would not be broken especially since her "life" was at stake here and she could feel herself losing this battle. "Wait, what about the Volturi, they are _expecting_ my immortality Edward. What about them?" She screamed. The threat of the Volturi her last hope.

"Alice doesn't see them as a threat to your existence." He said flatly as he looked away from her, not allowing her to see his face. She had the ability to read his expressions, the look in his eyes and his body language, almost as well as he could read everyone's (with the exception of her's of course) minds.

When the thoughts he was having about the impending visit from the Volturi had passed. Edward stopped her from pacing and put his hands on her shoulders and looked in her eyes. "Bella, Alice's vision doesn't change unless we are no longer together and your future takes a different path. Trust me, I worked every angle with her, having her imagine different scenarios…Married, not married, living in separate cities, separates states, separate countries even, and it's always the same. As long as we are _together_ you will most certainly lose your life. And yes, before you ask, your fate is the same whether you are human or immortal." Edward turned away as he could no longer bear to look at her and witness the painful effect his words were having on her.

"I have to go. I won't be around anymore, but I can be reached, through the family. If you ever need anything Bella…anything." Edward's voice trailed off.

Bella reached out to touch him and Edward took a step back. "All I need is you." She said in a whisper. She could no longer fight off the tears that had been threatening to break free since the conversation began. She allowed herself to cry. The strongest weapon she had she could think of.

Edward leaned forward and gently placed his hands on the sides of her face, tilting her upward until their eyes met. He softly wiped away her tears with his thumbs and then brushed his lips against her's and he whispered in her ear, "I love you...always will."

With that, Edward was gone. _Again. _Bella spun around looking for him desperately. Deja vu set in and in her mind she could see the grove where Edward had left her before and where Sam had found her unconscious. She saw her world go black as her mind did the only thing it could do to save her from insanity and she passed out….

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